Our Correspondent

Fatehgarh Sahib, May 6

The partial lockdown, which allowed liquor shops to remain open, has led to resentment among traders and industrialists of Sirhind, Mandi Gobindgarh, Amloh and Bassi Pathana towns of the district.

FIR against shop owners in Patiala

Patiala: Shops in various markets, including that of handloom, cloth, and bakery, in Patiala remained open on Thursday despite Covid-19 restrictions. The Punjab Beopar Mandal, Patiala, on Wednesday held a protest and announced they would open all shops in the city. Following this, the Patiala police registered an FIR against them. The police also went around in various markets dissuading shopkeepers from opening their establishments. TNS

Raising slogans against the government, traders in their respective towns held demonstration and disrupted the traffic on GT Road in Mandi Gobindgarh. They held meetings with their respective SDMs and presented them memorandums to allow them to open all types of shops.

The traders said either a complete lockdown be declared or they should also be allowed to open their shops for fixed hours. They said it would control the pandemic as at present there was huge rush and panic in the markets to buy essential commodities and medicines. Even villagers are rushing to towns to hoard essential goods.

SDM Fatehgarh Sahib SDM Dr Sanjeev Kumar said he had a meeting with Beopar Mandal members. He said he would brief the Deputy Commissioner and hoped the issued would be sorted out soon. Amloh SDM Anand Sagar Sharma and his Bassi Pathana counterpart Jaspreet Singh said traders had submitted similar memoranda and they would discuss the issue with the DC.

Deputy Commissioner Amrit Kaur Gill said the administration had sent its proposal to the state government to settle the issue at the earliest.

Meanwhile, industrialists urged Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to intervene to stop the migration of labourers as most of the 600 industrial units of Mandi Gobindgarh have shut due to the non-supply of oxygen. They demanded a partial resumption of supply of oxygen to keep the industries running.